Just meeting new people is enough to make teenager Claire Baker break into a sweat, not ideal as she works as a travel agent.

Claire, 19, from Wallsend, is good at her job but gets so nervous that after helping would-be holidaymakers her armpits are usually drenched and her uniform left with unsightly patches.

And it's a vicious circle of misery for Claire. For the more she perspires, the longer she keeps her jacket on and the more she sweats.

She said: "The more you worry about it, the worse it gets, especially now the hot weather is here. I love wearing light coloured clothes but they show up sweat patches really badly.

"I usually start getting sweat patches in the morning and it just gets worse during the day. My uniform is royal blue but you can still really see them.

"I have tried every deodorant going but nothing seems to work."

Claire works for Travel Care, in Ridley Place, Newcastle. Her hopes picked up recently when she spotted an advert in the window of the Hair, Nail, Tan and Beauty salon next door.

It was offering treatment for excessive sweating using painless Botox injections but the only snag was it cost #300.

Claire confided in her parents Beverly and Paul and they agreed to stump up the cash as a birthday treat.

And it was with much trepidation that she booked herself in for the one-off treatment, trying to block out the image of needles with thoughts of all the new Summer tops she was going to buy.

The procedure was carried out by medical and cosmetic doctor, Alan Patterson, from Ponteland, who has just brought the BO-busting treatment to the North East, after training at Harley Street, in London.

Dr Patterson, who is a member of the British Association of Cosmetic Practitioners, has been using the treatment at different clinics in the region and the response has been very positive.

Claire said: "It only took about 45 minutes and it just felt like little pin pricks. I didn't need to put any cream on and I could wear deodorant the next day.

"It didn't start working until a couple of days later but it has made such a difference. I'm a lot drier and a lot more confident."

Dr Patterson, whose wife Sally runs the Hair, Nail, Tan and Beauty salon, gets a lot of queries from clients of all ages for the treatment.

He said: "I get a lot of teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s who are worried that excessive sweating will ruin their chances of promotion. I'm a bit of a sweater myself and have often changed my shirt twice in one day.

"But for some people it can literally drip from the armpits, it gets so bad. The treatment is perfectly safe and involves up to 20 small injections in the skin. The effects last up to six months and although it doesn't stop sweating all together, it reduces it by up to 80 per cent.

"It usually takes two days before the treatment starts to work."

It is believed perspiring is made worse by certain stimulants such as tea, coffee and spicy food. The smell is triggered when bugs fester in the sweat and start to break down chemicals producing sulphur.

Dr Patterson added: "I have used Botox for some time, injecting it in the face to freeze muscles to erase frown lines.

"In other countries, especially the USA, injections into the armpit have really taken off, and it is especially in demand from celebrities who need to look cool at all times.

"It was, apparently, used by a number of the personalities at the Oscar presentations but I don't see why it should be limited to the famous."

Scientist are also looking into the possibility that Botox could help obese people by weakening the muscles in the stomach.

It is also being investigated as a treatment for women who suffer spasms during sex, making it painful.

A little known fact is that the drug was actually pioneered more than a decade ago, at Hunters Moor Hospital, in Newcastle.

Botox is one brand name of Botulinum and is derived from the same bugs that produce the deadly food poison Botulism.

Fortunately, the last serious outbreak of Botulism occurred in the UK back in the 1980s.

Developed at Britain's Porton Down Chemical and Biological Weapons Research Establishment, in Wiltshire, Botulinum is the most powerful nerve toxin known to man.

In fact, one litre of Botulinum is enough to kill the global population twice over.

However, in carefully controlled doses this deadly toxin has a vital place in modern medicine and the Botulinum Clinic, set up in Newcastle last year, treats a wide range of conditions including chronic back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, spasticity, dribbling, chronic tension headaches, migraine, and even excessive headaches.

Most of Prof Barnes's clients suffer from headaches but the second most common ailment is backache.

And he has enjoyed much success with his patients. Seventy per cent of clients with headaches report feeling better as do 60 per cent of backache sufferers.

The majority of those with backache have tried everything else to combat the pain including painkillers and complementary therapies and turn to him as a last resort.

Prof Barnes explained: "Botulinum is most effective treating back pain caused by muscle spasm, the most common cause and not pain caused by tumours or pain coming from the bones.

"Many of my clients have tried other remedies and are keen to try something new. Some of our patients are referred by the NHS such as those with spasticity but currently people with other more common disorders cannot get the treatment free."

The treatment involves a simple injection into the area of pain and most patients report improvements straight away.

Botulinum works by blocking messages from the brain to the muscles telling them to hurt.

The effects last for three to four months and one side effect is that the drug may have a weakening effect on surrounding muscles.

The treatment is also not cheap, between #250 and #350 per injection. Prof Barnes began his pioneering work at Hunters Moor looking into the medical applications of Botulinum in 1989, three years before the drug was licensed in the UK for medical use.

Hunters Moor was the first clinic in the UK to treat neurological conditions using Botulinum and the first in the world to train nurses to administer it under the supervision of a doctor.

"In more than ten years of use there have been no incidents of permanent disability or death in using the drug," said Dr Barnes. "Botulinum is an extraordinarily safe drug, with virtually no side effects in the majority of patients.

"One in one thousand patients get a mild rash which clears up in a couple of days.

"Treatment consists of a course of simple injections and in many cases patients can return to a pain-free life."